HUMAN RIGHTS HOSTAGES OF THE GATEKEEPERS Abuses against Internally Displaced in Mogadishu, Somalia WATCH Hostages of the Gatekeepers Abuses against Internally Displaced in Mogadishu, Somalia Copyright © 2013 Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 978-1-62313-0008 Cover design by Rafael Jimenez Human Rights Watch is dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world. We stand with victims and activists to prevent discrimination, to uphold political freedom, to protect people from inhumane conduct in wartime, and to bring offenders to justice. We investigate and expose human rights violations and hold abusers accountable. We challenge governments and those who hold power to end abusive practices and respect international human rights law. We enlist the public and the international community to support the cause of human rights for all. 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For more information, please visit our website: http://www.hrw.org MARCH 2013 978-1-62313-0008 Hostages of the Gatekeepers Abuses against Internally Displaced in Mogadishu, Somalia Map 1: Somalia .................................................................................................................... 1 Map 2: Districts in Mogadishu ............................................................................................ 2 Summary ............................................................................................................................ 3 Key Recommendations ...................................................................................................... 10 Methodology ..................................................................................................................... 11 Background ....................................................................................................................... 13 Developments in 2011 and 2012 ............................................................................................. 15 Mogadishu during the Famine ............................................................................................... 16 Displacement as a Result of Famine ................................................................................. 17 Governance in Mogadishu ..................................................................................................... 19 Reliance on Gatekeepers ................................................................................................. 19 Clan Dynamics ...................................................................................................................... 24 Abuses against Internally Displaced People in Mogadishu ................................................ 27 Sexual and Gender Based Violence ........................................................................................ 29 Mistreatment and Discrimination ........................................................................................... 34 Evictions ............................................................................................................................... 38 Diversion of Food Aid and Control over Resources .................................................................. 40 Looting, Diversion, and Misappropriation of Food Aid ...................................................... 41 Abuses Arising through Control over Shelter .................................................................... 48 Arbitrary Arrests and Reprisals against IDPs for Complaints ..................................................... 51 IDPs and Humanitarian Assistance under International Law .............................................. 54 Government Response ....................................................................................................... 57 The Transitional Federal Government ..................................................................................... 57 Response of the New Government ......................................................................................... 60 Donor Governments and Humanitarian Actors ................................................................... 64 The Diplomatic and Donor Community ................................................................................... 64 The Humanitarian Community ................................................................................................ 65 Protection Activities .............................................................................................................. 66 The Humanitarian Community’s Response to Gatekeepers ..................................................... 68 The Humanitarian Response to Aid Diversions ....................................................................... 69 Accountability towards Beneficiaries and of Assistance .......................................................... 71 Recommendations ............................................................................................................. 74 Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................ 80 Map 1: Somalia © 2011 United Nations 1 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | MARCH 2013 Map 2: Districts of Mogadishu HOSTAGES OF THE GATEKEEPERS 2 Summary In Badbaado camp, only the name is very beautiful, the people are very unkind. The people running the camp are militia allied to the government.… They respect their clan more than the humanity. They don’t care about us, because if they are aware of the attacks against the IDPs they could respond when we reported to them. But they don’t rescue when the women are crying for help. —43-year-old displaced woman, former resident of Badbaado camp, September 2011 The new government of Somalia plans to relocate tens of thousands of internally displaced people (IDPs) within Mogadishu this year. Many of these people had arrived in the war-torn capital in 2011 as a result of a devastating famine that provoked widespread displacement. The famine was caused by unrelenting drought, ongoing insecurity and fighting, the blocking of civilian access to humanitarian assistance, and increasing “taxation” of resources and livestock by the armed Islamist group al-Shabaab in south-central Somalia. Although there is no accurate death toll, tens of thousands of people are believed to have died as a result of the famine. Hundreds of thousands of people fled into neighboring countries and the United Nations estimates that more than 75,000 IDPs arrived in Mogadishu within the space of nine months in 2011. Instead of finding refuge and the humanitarian assistance they urgently needed, many displaced people encountered a hostile and abusive environment in Mogadishu. This report is based on more than a year’s research, including 70 interviews with newly arrived persons displaced from south-central Somalia by the 2011-2012 famine and fighting in some of the main IDP camps and settlements in Mogadishu. It examines the situation of displaced people in Mogadishu from the height of the famine in July 2011 through November 2012. And it describes the abuses faced by these people, who are often silenced by those bent on exploiting their vulnerability. Throughout this period members of displaced communities in Mogadishu faced serious human rights abuses including rape, beatings, ethnic discrimination, restricted access to 3 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | MARCH 2013 food and shelter, restrictions on movement, and reprisals when they dared to protest their mistreatment. The most serious abuses were committed by various militias and security forces, often affiliated with the government, operating within or near camps and settlements for the displaced. Frequently these militias were linked or controlled by managers, or “gatekeepers” as they are known, of the IDP camp. The fate of the displaced is often in the hands of the gatekeepers. By “hosting” IDPs, gatekeepers determine the location of settlements, the access of IDPs to these settlements and, often, their ability to access humanitarian assistance. The gatekeepers are generally from the dominant local clan; occasionally they are linked to local authorities or to clan militias that ostensibly provide security but in fact control the camps. Among the many problems in the camps perhaps the most threatening is sexual violence. Displaced women and girls face a significant risk of rape in Mogadishu. They told Human Rights Watch that rape usually occurred at night in the huts. Even Badbaado, one of the few government-run IDP camps in the city, was not safe. Several women described being raped by armed men in uniform, some of whom were identified as government soldiers. Many victims of sexual violence never report their experiences to the authorities, fearing reprisals from the perpetrators, wary of the social stigma associated with sexual violence, and having little confidence that the authorities will respond. As the father of a young woman who was raped by four men in government military uniform said: “We don’t know anyone here, we are new to Mogadishu. So we didn’t try to go to justice, because the commander was harassing us at the time my daughter was raped. So how I can trust anyone here? We must keep